Stephen Giraldo tried to murder his estranged wife, Sophia Giraldo, by ramming his SUV into her and stabbing her. (Image of the vehicle: Queens District Attorney’s Office; screenshot of the defendant: WABC; screenshot of Sophia Giraldo via YouTube screengrab/Patrice Washington)
A New York City man who put his wife into a coma by crashing his SUV into her and stabbing her as their three children were in the vehicle has pleaded guilty in the attack.
Stephen Giraldo, 36, is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 6. The victim, Sophia Giraldo, 41, is currently in a vegetative state in an area rehabilitation facility, according to family and friends. She sustained severe neurological damage, broken bones in her leg, and a puncture wound in her liver, according to the Queens District Attorney’s Office.
Sophia Giraldo, who filed for divorce last year, hosted “The Unfiltered and Free Podcast.” The podcast is described as consisting of “real conversations about living life after betrayal and abuse,” and in the first episode, Sophia Giraldo described her marriage as being abusive.
That rocky history culminated in tragedy and violence on Dec. 27, 2022, in the Queens neighborhood of Flushing.
Defendant Giraldo was in a white Ford Explorer outside his estranged wife’s residence at approximately 5:20 a.m. on Dec. 27 to drop off their three children, ages 6, 9, and 11.
As seen on surveillance footage, he stepped out of the SUV to move a trash bag that blocked it, prosecutors said. He then returned to the SUV.
Sophia Giraldo stepped out of her home and walked in front of the SUV.
“Keep your seatbelt on,” defendant reportedly Giraldo told the children. Then he allegedly crashed into his wife on purpose, resulting in the vehicle turning onto its side.
He then crawled over his son in the front passenger seat and out the window to stab Sophia Giraldo with a knife.
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Giraldo stayed at the scene until first responders arrived and law enforcement took him into custody.
Prosecutors at his arraignment said the suspect himself had called 911.
“I think I killed my wife,” he told emergency dispatch.
He told an officer at the scene, “I hit my wife. Arrest me.”
Sophia Giraldo was taken to the hospital in a vegetative state.
“The horrifying brutality of the attack, and the fact that it was committed in full view of the victim’s three young children, stirred outrage and heartbreak across the city,” Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said. “We welcome the guilty plea and seeing a violent, dangerous man go to prison, but today’s outcome does not remedy the immense pain and lifelong suffering the defendant caused.”
Jerry Lambe contributed to this report.
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